In recent years, a concept that the essential pathosis of allergic diseases such as asthma is chronic inflammation has been established, and the accumulation of eosinophils at an inflammatory region is especially thought to be one of the principal characteristics of the diseases (refer to, for example, Busse, W. W. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 1998, 102, S17-S22; Takao Fujisawa, Gendai Iryo, 1999, 31, 1297, and so on). For example, when an antibody against intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) was administered into a simian asthmatic model, the accumulation of eosinophils was inhibited, and the manifestation of a late asthmatic response was controlled. Thereby, the importance of the eosinophils in allergic diseases was strongly suggested (Wegner, C. D. et al., Science, 1990, 247, 456).
Eotaxin was identified as a specific chemotactic factor causing the accumulation/chemotaxis of eosinophil (refer to, for example, Jose, P. J., et. al., J. Exp. Med., 1994, 179, 881; Garcia-Zepda, E. A. et al., Nature Med., 1996, 2, 449; Ponath, P. D. et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1996, 97, 604; Kitaura, M. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271, 7725, and so on). Further, it was elucidated that eotaxin bound to a CCR3 receptor expressed on eosinophil to display the action, and it is also known that chemotactic factors such as RANTES (abbreviation of regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted), MCP-2 (abbreviation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-2), MCP-3 (abbreviation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-3), and MCP-4 (abbreviation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-4) can exhibit the same actions as that of the eotaxin through CCR3, although the action potencies of the chemotactic factors are weaker than that of the eotaxin (refer to, for example, Kitaura, M. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271, 7725; Daugherty, B. L. et al., J. Exp. Med., 1996, 183, 2349; Panath, P. D. et al., J. Exp. Med., 1996, 183, 2437; Hiath, H. et at., J. Clin. Invest., 1997, 99, 178; Patel, V. P. et al., J. Exp. Med., 1997, 185, 1163; Forssmann, U. et al., J. Exp. Med. 185, 2171, 1997, and so on).
Not only an action for causing chemotaxis but also actions related to the activation of eosinophils, such as the enhancement in the expression of adhesion molecule receptor (CD11b) (refer to, for example, Tenscher, K. et al., Blood, 1996, 88, 3195, and so on), the stimulation in the production of active oxygen (refer to, for example, Elsner, J. et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 1996, 26, 1919, and so on), the stimulation in the release of EDN (abbreviation of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin) [refer to El-Shazly, et al., Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol., 1998, 117 (suppl. 1), 55], have been reported as the actions of the eotaxin on the eosinophils. It has also been reported that eotaxin has an action for stimulating the release of eosinophils and their precursor cells from bone marrow into blood (refer to, for example, Palframan, R. T. et al., Blood, 1998, 91, 2240, and so on).
Many reports show that eotaxin and CCR3 play important roles on allergic diseases such as asthma. For example, the inhibition of eosinophil infiltration with an anti-eotaxin antibody in a mouse asthma model (refer to Gonzalo, J.-A. et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1996, 98, 2332), the inhibition of eosinophil infiltration with an anti-eotaxin antiserum in a mouse dermal allergy model (refer to Teixeira, M. M. et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1997, 100, 1657), the inhibition in the formation of pulmonary granuloma with an anti-eotaxin antibody in a mouse model (refer to Ruth., J. H. et al., J. Immunol., 1998, 161, 4276), the inhibition of eosinophil infiltration in an asthma model and an interstitial keratitis model using eotaxin gene-deficient mice, respectively, (refer to Rothenberg, M. E. et al., J. Exp. Med., 1997, 185, 785), the increase in the expression of eotaxin and CCR3 in the bronchus of an asthmatic patient at a genetic level and a protein level in comparison with a healthy subject (refer to Ying, S. et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 1997, 27, 3507), and the increase in the expression of eotaxin in the nasal subepithelium tissue of a chronic sinusitis patient (refer to Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 1997, 17, 683), have been reported.
Additionally, since it has been reported that eotaxin is expressed in large amounts in the inflammatory regions of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory large bowel disease (refer to Garcia-Zepda E. A. et al., Nature Med., 1996, 2, 449), it can be understood that the eotaxin also plays important roles on the diseases.
From these data, it is strongly suggested that the eotaxin accumulates and activates the eosinophils in the lesion regions through CCR3 and thereby deeply participates in the initiation progression and maintenance of diseases in which the deep participation of the eosinophils in the progresses of the lesions can be supposed, for example, allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, contact dermatitis, and allergic conjunctivitis, inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease, eosinophilia, eosinophilic gastroenteritis, eosinophilic enteropathy, eosinophilic fasciitis, eosinophilic granuloma, eosinophilic pustular folliculitis, eosinophilic pneumonia and eosinophilic leukemia.
Further, since they have been reported that CCR3 receptors reveal not only on eosinophils but also on basophils and Th2 lymphocytes and that the increase in the intracellular calcium ion concentrations of the cells and the chemotaxis of the cells are caused by the eotaxin, the eotaxin and the CCR3 are supposed to have relations with the initiation progression and maintenance of the diseases in which the cells participate, such as allergic diseases, also by the accumulation and activation of the cells (refer to, for example, Sallusto, F. et al., Science, 1997, 277, 2005; Gerber, B. O. et al., Current Biol., 1997, 7, 836; Sallusto, F. et at., J. Exp. Med., 1998, 187, 875; Uguccioni, M. et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1997, 100, 1137; Yamada, H. et al., Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun., 1997, 231, 365; and so on).
Thereby, a compound for inhibiting the binding of eotaxin to the CCR3, namely, a CCR3 antagonist, is supposed to be useful as a medicine for treating and/or preventing diseases such as allergic diseases and inflammatory intestinal diseases by inhibiting the action of a CCR3 ligand represented by the eotaxin on a target cell, but a medicine having such the action is now not known.
In addition, since it has been reported that HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus-1) utilizes CCR3 on the infection of a host cell, a CCR3 antagonist is supposed to be useful for a medicine for treating or preventing AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) caused by the infection of the HIV (refer to, for example, Choe, H. et at., Cell, 1996, 85, 1135; Doranz, B. J. et al., Cell, 1996, 85, 1149).
Recently, it has been reported that xanthene-9-carboxamide derivatives (refer to WO 9804554), piperazine or piperidine derivatives (refer to EP 903349; WO 0029377; WO 0031033; WO 0035449; WO 0035451; WO 0035452; WO 0035453; WO 0035454; WO 0035876; WO 0035877), pyrrolidine derivatives (refer to WO 0031032), phenylalanine derivatives (refer to WO 9955324; WO 9955330; WO 0004003; WO 0027800; WO 0027835; WO 0027843), and other low molecular compounds (refer to WO 9802151) have antagonistic activities to CCR3 receptors. However, these compounds are different from the compounds used in the present invention. And, the compounds used in the present invention are the same as the compounds mentioned in WO 9925686, but it is not known that these compounds have antagonistic activities to CCR3 receptors.